Four Barrel Celebrates Four Years

Four Barrel celebrates four years today. It all started with a passion for coffee.

We have your history here:

Jeremy Tooker leans against a round table on which there are 20 identical porcelain mugs, each carefully filled halfway with dry beans.

“This isn’t beginner’s coffee,” Tooker says as he prepares to cup, a daily process of blind tasting to select the beans that will be added to Four Barrel Coffee’s menu.

As he describes the process of testing the fragrance and flavor of both brewed and raw beans, he speaks about their varietal, terroir and astringency — language expected from a wine reviewer, not a coffee-shop owner.

The allusion to wine is no coincidence. When Tooker opened his Valencia Street coffee shop in the midst of the 2008 recession, he had a single, unflinching vision — to have coffee be talked about in the Mission with the same enthusiasm and respect as wine, beer and food. READ MORE